


The Shroud, First Love, and The Rabbit of an Endless Day

by starrylitme



Category: Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Budding Love, Commentary, Complicated Relationships, Emotional Baggage, Flashbacks, Introspection, Island Mode, M/M, Mental Instability, Non-Linear Narrative, Post-Canon, Praise Kink, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Reflection, Suggestive Themes, Time Loop, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 15:06:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11785689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrylitme/pseuds/starrylitme
Summary: Just hearing it isn't enough, you need to beheretoo.(The Komaeda Retrieval Project is still going underway. Post-SDR2, Island Mode AU. Guest-starring Kamukura Izuru.)(Written for Komahina Week.)





	The Shroud, First Love, and The Rabbit of an Endless Day

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I kind of did this idea once with KomaNami way back when, but what kind of KomaHina fan would I be if I never did it with KomaHina? :'D I went a very, uh, different direction with it and it's more...weird, but, hopefully y'all still enjoy it?? I did like writing this fic, at least, when I wasn't suffering.
> 
> Hopefully Kamukura's not too annoying. He's definitely in the minor role of observer in this fic, but he's still very important!! It's complicated. :V
> 
> I'll be sad if this is the only fic I get done for KomaHina Week, but all the same, um... Please enjoy it. ;w;

He’s just another one of them. **~~(Worthless. Dull. Uninteresting.)~~**

He’s just another face. **~~(He doesn’t stick out that much. Not really.)~~**

He’s bright, like the rest of them. **~~(Putrid and poisonous, just like all the rest.)~~**

He’s... **~~(Boring.)~~**

Calming. **~~(Boring.)~~**

**_~~(What is it about him?)~~ _ **

_~~Shouldn’t it be obvious?~~ _

* * *

“Hey, can you hear me?”

Sounds of the sea and the seagulls. Blinding sunlight.

“Ah, I understand... It’s overwhelming, isn’t it?”

This person is bright and dazzling under the sun, and they are also washed-out and ashen.

“I should introduce myself.” He holds out his hand, and that blinding smile almost overwhelms his fragile face. “And you are?”

“...I’m...”

**~~(This is the 15255 th time.)~~ **

All the same, he takes that frail hand and squeezes it tight.

* * *

**~~(You really are a failure in every way.)~~** “You’re so amazing, Hinata-kun!”

**~~(Just give up already.)~~** “Eh, not...really.”

**~~(Are you even listening?)~~** “You really are! You really, truly are!”

Komaeda’s eyes are sparkling with promise and certainty. Hinata swallows a lump in his throat.

**~~(42 in-game days, 10 in-game hours, 43 in-game minutes, and 33 in-game seconds remain for this session. In reality, the remaining time is—)~~ **

“Alright, that should be enough gathering for the day.”

“Yes!”

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be cleaning, Komaeda?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine!”

_It’s not fine,_ Hinata thought achingly. _How many more times is it going to take?_

~~He scoffed.~~

“Koizumi-san and Saionji-san took up cleaning today,” Komaeda explained. “And Saionji-san said I’d only be in the way and that she didn’t want to see my face, so...”

“She’s just trying to monopolize Koizumi,” Hinata huffed back. “You know that, don’t you?”

“Saionji-san does really like her,” he hummed. “When you really like someone, I guess other people would seem in the way, huh?”

Komaeda gave that carefree laugh.

 “Don’t you think that’s bratty, Komaeda?”

“Well, I wouldn’t know,” Komaeda said easily. “I can’t imagine being so close to someone that I like them that much.”

“...We’re close, aren’t we?”

**_~~(Oh. Is that it?)~~ _ **

_~~Shut up. Shut up.~~ _

 “ _Eh_?” Komaeda blushed at that. “W-What are you _saying_?! S-Someone like you really shouldn’t be saying something like that to someone like me! Is it a joke?! Are you joking, Hinata-kun?!!?!”

“If you start overheating, you’re going to faint again,” Hinata snapped at him, getting him to stop.

“Ah... Right... I don’t want to trouble you like that again... Ehehe...” Sheepishly, Komaeda rubbed at the back of his neck. “Sorry, Hinata- _kuuun_...”

_In the beginning, you wouldn’t have gotten flustered by a comment like that at all. So that, at least, has changed._

“It’s not really that big of a deal, is it?” he asked. “Saying that we’re close? I spend more time with you than anyone else, and you spend more time with me than anyone else... You’d call that close, right?”

“Ah...” Komaeda quiets for a bit. “I suppose. Although I do wonder why you do spend more time with someone like me... Helping you find your way around is one thing...but you really should have befriended the other worthwhile talented people by now rather than wasting your time with a mite with the worthless not-quite talent of luck...”

They’re not a concern. **~~(Have they ever been?)~~**

“I find you calming,” he answered. “Everyone else is a bit too...loud, I guess.”

“Nanami-san and Sonia-san aren’t that loud,” Komaeda pointed out.

“Not usually, no, but when it comes to talking about their passions, they _can_ be.”

“I have passions, too, Hinata-kun!” Komaeda huffed out, puffing out his cheeks. “I’m not _that_ boring!”

Hinata snorted a bit. “If there’s one thing you’re not it’s boring, Komaeda.”

Komaeda flustered at that, face reddening more and more.

“I just said not to overheat, Komaeda.”

“H-How can I not when you said something so nice that I might just burst into tears?”

“It wasn’t that nice,” Hinata sighed. “Please don’t burst into tears, Komaeda.”

Shakily, Komaeda nodded a few times. He kept his word and didn’t cry, at least. Even if he looked close to it.

_Oh, he’s cute._

~~He didn’t say anything to that, at least.~~

* * *

“You shouldn’t lose hope, Hinata-kun! I’m sure someone like you has an amazing talent!”

“...Do you really think so?”

“Really!” Komaeda’s eyes were positively sparkling. “I really do!”

**_~~(He was the first person to be that reassuring, wasn’t he?)~~ _ **

_~~Not the first, no.~~ _

“Ah, Hinata-kun, you still look pale...”

“I’m fine, I’m fine... You’re pale too, you know.”

“Ah, but this is how I always look, so it’s not really a concern, Hinata-kun.”

They’re walking together. There’s so little distance between then that Hinata can almost feel the radiating warmth in spite of how considerably cold it was.

 “...So you say...”

“I do say, Hinata-kun!”

“Mm...”

Hinata can’t help but shiver, arms wrapping around himself. Again, Komaeda gave him that doe-eyed look of worry, and Hinata speaks up before he can really think about it.

“Hey, Komaeda... Do you think we’ll get out of here alright?”

Komaeda blinked at him, and he answered without hesitation. “Of course I do.”

Hinata swallowed.

“Hinata-kun,” Komaeda goes on. “You are all not just talented individuals but **_Ultimates_**. Some ridiculous toy couldn’t possibly gain the upper hand over people who are meant to carry on the world’s hope. We have Togami-kun to lead us, how could we ever lose?”

“I don’t remember what my talent is, Komaeda,” he grumbled. “Hard to be assured in my talent when I don’t remember it at _all_.”

“Mm, that is troublesome, but...” Komaeda smiled at him so easily. “I know just from looking at you that you’re something special, Hinata-kun.”

Hinata stiffened, and his heart skipped a beat.

**_~~(Oh, right, he was the first person to call you special.)~~ _ **

_~~There’s more to it than that.~~ _

“You really think so?”

“I know so!”

Komaeda has sparkling assurance within his gaze, the kind that’s stunning and consuming. Hinata took it in, soaked it in, really, and he tried his best to smile back as he nodded.

“Thanks, Komaeda.”

* * *

Just like that time before, they’re walking together. This time their sides are brushing against one another.

“The breeze feels really nice,” Komaeda sighed. “Even with how drearily boring the peaceful days are, there’s a pleasance to them, don’t you think?”

“I guess,” Hinata said, stretching out with a yawn. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

Komaeda gave a cheerful nod.

“That’s good, at least.”

Komaeda laughed, the sound light like the breeze. Hinata’s stare narrows a bit, and then, Komaeda turned back to him.

“In a book I read, this is the part where I say I wish days like this could last forever, but,” he pouted. “That’s too underwhelming and carefree! Grander things need to happen, otherwise what’s the point?!”

Hinata hummed noncommittedly.

“Don’t you think so?!” Komaeda demanded, almost impatiently. “If everything just remained as it were until the end, that really would be just the worst luck, Hinata-kun! I’d die so bitter!”

Another hum.

 “Aah, but,” Komaeda went on, and gave him a cheeky grin. “Maybe spending the rest of my life with Hinata-kun isn’t so bad. Just kidding! I’d never wish for you to get stuck with someone like me.”

**~~(How ironic.)~~ **

“You’re not that bad,” Hinata huffed and ruffled his hair. “It’s not like I don’t enjoy our time together, too, Komaeda.”

Komaeda giggled even as he playfully smacked Hinata’s hand away. “That’s just flattery to collect hope shards.” He stuck his tongue out. “You’re going to have to try a lot harder than that.”

With that, Komaeda skipped up ahead, humming as he did and arms swaying. Hinata watched him, smile twitching before his lips pulled into a straight line.

_Try harder, huh?_

**~~(Hmm.)~~ **

* * *

Actually, it wouldn’t be a lie to suggest that Komaeda was the first person he’d been vulnerable with.

“...Komaeda.”

His grip on the other’s wrist was tight and unyielding. He was trembling, just a bit, and Komaeda was blinking those wide eyes back at him.

“Hinata-kun?”

“Let’s...” Hinata swallowed and then, “Let’s spend the night, just tonight. It’s safer this way, isn’t it?”

“Safer?” Komaeda blinked a few times and then softly laughed. “Hinata-kun, are you going to kill me?”

Hinata flinched, but he scowled.

“We’re going back to my cabin. Do you expect me to just stuff your corpse under my bed or something? Drag it out somewhere? That’s way too risky.”

“You thought it through,” Komaeda murmured, making him get flustered.

“I-I’m just trying to be reasonable in a completely unreasonable situation!” Hinata exclaimed and his voice proceeded to rise in hysteria. “Kill each other to leave?! What even the hell is that _about_?!”

“Who knows,” Komaeda hummed easily, so infuriatingly calmly that Hinata wanted to scream and then Komaeda gave him that usual smile of his. “But you can’t lose yourself now, Hinata-kun! You’re one of the Ultimates, representing the hope of the world—what does that bear have?!”

“Robots,” Hinata replied bluntly. “With guns. Machine guns. We all saw what happened to Usami.”

“Ah, right,” Komaeda agreed, quieting. “We did...” And then he perked right back up. “Still, wit and capability will go a long way! Hope and goodness will win in the end! It has to!”

“What do you think this is, a video game?” he asked, hopelessly irritated.

“It’s...definitely a kind of challenge, don’t you think?” Komaeda asked right back. “One that I know you’ll triumph in, Hinata-kun.”

_Oh my god._

“How can you know?”

“Because,” Komaeda said, eyes shining. “I _believe_ in all of you, Hinata-kun.”

Hinata backed off, breath catching, and then...

**_~~(Your heart skipped a beat. Weak. Boring.)~~ _ **

_~~Shut up.~~ _

“...Let’s go to my cabin,” he ended up saying, squeezing Komaeda’s wrist. All this time and he hadn’t let it go. “It’s...not just safer... But, if you really believe in me that much...” He runs his fingers through his hair, blushing. “I should...at least make sure nothing happens to you.”

“Eh, Hinata-kun...” Komaeda blinked a few times. “Oh, but, if you want to kill me to get off this island, I don’t mind...”

“There’s no way in hell I’m doing that,” Hinata hissed. “Didn’t you just hear me? I just said I’m going to make sure nothing happens to you, Komaeda!”

Komaeda blinked a few more times. His head tilted to the side.

“...That’s impossible.”

“S-Shut up! Aren’t you supposed to be saying something like _thank you_ or _how cool_?!”

“How cool!” Komaeda exclaimed, eyes sparkling again.

Hinata flustered, and then, he yanked him along.

“C-Come on... We’re definitely going to attract some attention at this rate...”

“Uwah, Hinata-kun’s so cool!!”

“You...don’t need to keep saying it, Komaeda...”

“But, Hinata-kun,” Komaeda chirped, eyes twinkling like the stars with such a blinding smile. “You really _are_ cool, you know?”

Hinata blushed darkly and vividly.

**~~(Boring.)~~ **

“Thanks, Komaeda.”

* * *

“Eh? Me again?”

“Is that a problem?” He used to hesitate a lot more, but at this point, the words are so commonplace they might as well be instinctive. He knows, regardless, that Komaeda will pluck that pink ticket from his hand as he always does. “I was thinking... Beach or the amusement park, what are you in the mood for? Or maybe the library? I wouldn’t be surprised if you just wanted to relax someplace quiet. Maybe even the park... We can try pushing at the statue to see if there’s a secret entrance.”

“Like to treasure?” Komaeda asked curiously. “Or to Hell?”

“Yeah,” Hinata answered, smile easy. “Something like that.”

Komaeda continued to blink at him, grip still on the broom’s handle. It really was a cute sight, the handkerchief tying his hair back, the handkerchief around his neck, having been pulled down from when it was wrapped around his face.

“Hinata-kun,” Komaeda said, smile strained. “Not that I don’t enjoy spending time with you, but... Don’t you get tired of me? Shouldn’t you hang out with the other Ultimates? Wouldn’t someone like Souda-kun or Nanami-san be better?”

“If I wanted it to be either of them, or anyone else,” he replied, without missing a beat. “I’d be asking them, Komaeda.”

“Ah, I guess...” Komaeda still looked so uncertain. “I’m afraid I’m just too stupid to understand. Do you really want my hope shards that badly? If that’s the case, you don’t have to force yourself, you can just have them, Hinata-kun.”

**~~(Boring. He really is so boring.)~~ **

“Oi, who’s the one forcing himself now?” Hinata asked with a light laugh. “Didn’t Usami say hope shards have to come naturally? Didn’t _you_ say it wouldn’t be that easy? I asked you if we could hang out because I wanted to hang out with you. Is it really that hard to believe I like you for your company, Komaeda?”

“Yes,” Komaeda said bluntly. “My personality is terrible; I don’t understand your taste at all.”

“It’s not terrible, Komaeda...”

“It is,” he insisted. “It’s definitely terrible!”

“Komaeda,” he sighed and shook his head. “You’re really too hard on yourself. Listen, I swear it’s true. I do like you...”

**~~(If you like him so much, why don’t you just take him?)~~ **

Hinata stiffened for a moment.

“Hinata-kun?”

**_~~(It would not be that hard. You desire him, after all.)~~ _ **

_~~Shut up.~~ _

“Ah, sorry,” he laughed again, rubbing at his temple. “Ah, where were we?”

Komaeda hesitated, and then, he took the pink ticket from him.

“I wouldn’t mind a quiet day at the library,” he said softly. “I apologize if it’s boring, though, but you’re the one who insisted, Hinata-kun. So if you complain, I’ll be really hurt.”

“I won’t complain,” he promised. “So let’s just going.”

**_~~(You’re so boring, Hinata Hajime.)~~ _ **

_~~Shut up, shut up.~~ _

* * *

“I can sleep on the floor; it’s no problem at all! None whatsoever! Don’t even mind me, Hinata-kun, it’s alright even if I get stepped on!!”

“Komaeda, just get on the bed. There’s plenty of room.”

“...You don’t kick, do you, Hinata-kun?” A soft laugh. “I don’t _mind_ getting kicked out of the bed, but, mm, for something like that to happen in the middle of the night when I’m trying to sleep is just a bit...”

“I-I don’t kick! Don’t worry about that!”

“Ehehe, okay, okay...”

Komaeda crawls under the covers while Hinata’s back is turned. It’s not until the sheets have started rustling that he sees that Komaeda’s turned away from him and all he can see is curly, wild white strands sticking out in all sorts of places.

_...Cute._

He almost wants to reach out, to brush his fingers through the unruly strands. Would it be soft? It looked soft.

**_~~(It is soft. You know this now.)~~ _ **

“Mm... Hinata-kun?”

Hinata flinched and hurriedly turned back over.

“Ah... Yeah...?”

“Do you really feel safe like this...?” Komaeda sounds even breathier than usual, almost like the words are puffs in the air that dissipate before long. Hinata felt his face heat up, and he swallowed before answering.

“Do _you_...?”

**_~~(He likely did. Must you dwell over such obvious questions?)~~ _ **

“I’m still jittery, if that’s what you mean,” he said.

“Well, I guess even like this, it’s difficult to relax,” Hinata muttered. “Sorry. There’s not much I can do there.”

“It’s okay!” Komaeda exclaimed it so brightly that it was easy to believe, in spite of how very not okay the situation was. “At the end of this, you’ll come out a shining hero, I’m sure of it, Hinata-kun!”

Hinata snorted at that. “Now I know you’re getting ahead of yourself.”

Still, Komaeda had such sincerity to him that even if he, logically speaking, couldn’t believe that happening at all, he still couldn’t help but feel...just a little hopeful.

**_~~(This may have also been one of the first times in which you felt as though you could accomplish something great. How also boring.)~~ _ **

“I really do believe it, Hinata-kun,” Komaeda insisted.

“Mm...”

“Hinata-kun,” Komaeda states so sweetly. “You really are something special. Something incredible.”

Hinata flinched at that, eyes going wide.

_Ah, wait—_

“You’re amazing,” Komaeda goes on, those eyes sparkling, and then, those thin fingers entwining with his own. “So wonderful. So cool...”

_This isn’t how the memory went—_

“Hinata-kun,” Komaeda said, and then, “You know I believe in you, right? More than anything?”

“...Yeah.” He squeezed back, swallowing as he did. “Of course I do.”

_~~You can stop now. Just... Just stop.~~ _

**_~~(Is this not what you wanted?)~~ _ **

_~~You’ve made this into nothing more than a fantasy. That’s...not what I want.~~ _

**_~~(So you say as if you have not been replaying the same fantasies over and over again.)~~ _ **

_~~That’s not the same thing.~~ _

**_~~(You are right. You lost control here. I suppose that’s the difference. How expectable of you.)~~ _ **

_~~...Just stop.~~ _

* * *

Another rush of the waves, another lap at the sand, and their castle was once again gone.

“This really is despairingly hopeless,” Komaeda sighed, but he kept smiling. “Hinata-kun, you must be getting bored of this, right? Let’s try fishing or something instead.”

“All you ever catch are boots, Komaeda,” he pointed out.

“I might catch a sandal this time!”

_...You’re so cute._

“Wouldn’t you rather a sneaker?” he asked, smile twitching a bit.

Komaeda just shook his head. “I don’t particularly like sneakers.”

Hinata looked down at his red sneakers, and then frowned at the other.

“A-Ah, but they definitely look good on you, Hinata-kun!” he hurriedly exclaimed. “But for someone like me, they’re just not to my tastes!”

“I see how it is,” Hinata said coolly. Komaeda stuck his older lip out.

“Let’s go fish for sneakers,” he sighed simply, and went to retrieve his shoes to carry with him as he walked. His footsteps left behind imprinted in the sand were slighter than Hinata’s own; his feet were thin, pale, and delicate. Just like the rest of him. “Eh, Hinata-kun?”

He immediately snapped out of it, shaking his head. “Ah, yeah, let’s go.”

They walk together, like always, and then sit at the dock to fish. He’s cross-legged, but Komaeda has his feet dangling over the edge, legs folded.

It isn’t long before Komaeda’s amassed a pile of boots while Hinata hasn’t had so much as a nibble. In one of the boots, Komaeda found an oyster.

“...Oh dear.”

“Huh?”

The next wave was high enough to nearly knock them both off the pier and left them both soaking wet and sputtering.

“S-Sorry, Hinata-kun...!”

“I-It’s alright, it’s alright!!!” He coughed out more seawater. He’s pretty sure his throat’s clogged with salt right now, but he’s fine. All things considered, it wasn’t that bad.

But Komaeda’s sniffling, and neither of them have any idea where the fishing poles are. A considerable amount of the boots are missing, but, honestly, he could care less about that. And Komaeda’s grip is still clenched around the oyster.

And then, Komaeda flings it into his hand.

“T-Thank you for hanging out with me today.”

“Oi, Komae...” Komaeda had already scrambled off, rushing in the direction of the cabins. And, really, Hinata couldn’t be surprised.

Instead, he sighed as he pried the oyster open, and was just as unsurprised by the sight of the pearl inside, shining and glimmering in the sunlight.

“...He’s really not that bad, you know,” he said softly. “Honestly, sometimes I don’t get why you aren’t crazy about him, too.”

**~~(You know why.)~~ **

“...I guess...” He pocketed the pearl, and tossed the oyster back into the sea.

**~~(23 in-game days, 12 in-game hours, 45 in-game minutes, and 38 in-game seconds remaining in this session. In reality, the remaining time is...)~~ **

* * *

**_~~(It is painfully obvious that you are someone who has a difficult time letting go. It is boring and it is inconvenient.)~~ _ **

_~~It’s always been that way, too.~~ _

Yes, he knew that. He knew.

“I’m glad it was you,” he said once upon a time. “I’m glad it was your voice I woke up to, Komaeda.”

“Ehehe.” That bright, blinding, calming smile. “I’m glad, too, Hinata-kun.”

He probably knew from the beginning.

“I thought you of all people would understand, I thought that if anyone would understand, it’d be you.” A sigh, and Komaeda really does look so dismayed. It hurts, it _hurts_ , and yet, Komaeda just crossed his arms. “I was too presumptuous, wasn’t I?”

“What... What even the hell are you saying?!”

“Ahaha...” Komaeda laughed like it was nothing. Carefree like always, but, in a dark place like this, the brightness of that smile only served to make everything even darker. Darkness upon darkness, to the point where it glowed—“You really don’t get it at all, do you?”

He didn’t. At all.

**~~(Your first love and this was how it turned out.)~~ **

It wasn’t boring, but it was inconvenient. He knew that. Still. Still.

_“Hinata-kun, I know you have an amazing talent!”_

_“Hinata-kun, let’s do our best!”_

_“Hinata-kun, are you alright?”_

_“Hinata-kun, hang in there!”_

_“Hinata-kun!”_

...

_“Hey, can you hear me?”_

...Still.

* * *

Komaeda is resting against his shoulder and drooling on it. It’s familiar and as exasperating as it is endearing. All the same, Hinata smiles at him tenderly, and runs his fingers through the strands with the utmost care.

“...I don’t mind being like this,” Hinata said after a while. Komaeda didn’t so much as stir. “You’re right. There’s a selfishness to all this, too.”

**~~(Of course.)~~ **

“But you do get it, don’t you,” he couldn’t help but huff. “Why wouldn’t you, I mean... You’ve spent so much time in my head... I don’t think you’re the kind of guy who stays willfully ignorant to this kind of thing. Unless you are.”

~~No answer.~~

“You wouldn’t keep harassing me about this if you didn’t have some investment in this. You wouldn’t keep commenting if you weren’t curious. And it’s fine. I get it.” But. That said. “Komaeda is...”

He hesitated.

“Komaeda...”

Komaeda hummed so softly in his sleep, and then, thoughtlessly, he nuzzled against Hinata’s shoulder. And, of course, his chest ached even as his heart swelled.

“...Komaeda...”

* * *

Of course, he had definitely been nervous and apprehensive at the time, but...

**~~(Still.)~~ **

Komaeda’s smile was bright and carefree as always, but that hadn’t been the case with his words, or, even, really, with his gaze. In this heavy atmosphere, the lodge feels even more suffocating. In a moment’s notice, both of them could have been crushed.

He wanted to leave.

The more Komaeda spoke, the more he wanted to leave.

And yet, he couldn’t. He just couldn’t.

_Why? Just because this might just be the first guy who treated me like I was special..._

“Eh, Hinata-kun?” Komaeda blinked up at him with those bright eyes. “Hinata-kun, is something wrong?”

_Should you really be the one asking that?_

Komaeda was the one tied up, rendered so utterly helpless that he couldn’t even wiggle away if he had to escape somewhere. The chains, rope, the shackles... It was overkill, really, for someone this frail.

Still, Komaeda had proven how dangerous he could be...

And, yet.

“Hinata-kun, are you feeling alright?” Komaeda’s as worried for him now as he was worried when they were just on the beach together. “Hinata-kun...?”

It’s almost like nothing changed except for...everything surrounding them. The tray in his hands, an empty dining hall, the table where underneath someone had _died_.

Komaeda wiggled a bit, and it looked awkward. It looked painful. It had been...so...long since he was like this. He hadn’t eaten, drank, or...even gone to the bathroom since, has he...? Komaeda was dangerous. Komaeda needed to reflect on what happened.

But Komaeda looked up at him worriedly, head tilted...and shadows under his eyes.

_I can’t take this._ With a sigh, Hinata set the tray down. And with that, even when Komaeda looked confused, he went over behind him.

“Hi...nata-kun...?”

“What even the fuck is this, Souda?” he grumbled, disgusted with the sight of the chained up stock. “Isn’t this _inhumane_?”

“H-Hinata-kun...!”

Without another word on the matter, Hinata broke the lock and unraveled the chains. He popped open the stock, and let Komaeda pull his hands free. Komaeda was rubbing at his wrists, and before the other could say anything, he went to cutting and undoing the rope around his legs.

“Hinata-kun...” Komaeda trailed off. “I don’t understand. Are you going to kill me, or...?”

“I’m releasing you because this is _bullshit_ ,” he hissed. “You’re crazy and dangerous and a liability but even wild animals don’t deserve this. Don’t look too deeply into it.”

“...I... Oh... The others are going to be mad.”

“I don’t care,” Hinata huffed. Then, he ran his fingers through his hair with a grumble. “Hey... Komaeda... You need to use the bathroom, right? And...you need to eat, right...? I’ll accompany you, stay a while, and then I’ll leave Monomi in here to keep an eye on you. You can’t leave but...staying like this...just isn’t alright, either.”

Komaeda blinked once, twice, and then he nodded brightly.

“Okay!”

Hinata’s face twisted up, but all the same, he nodded back.

“...Alright.”

_~~I had known how hopeless I was from the start.~~ _

He did as he said he would, he accompanied Komaeda to the bathroom, waited, and he dragged Komaeda back and proceeded to watch him eat after the other had sent the typical prayer. Komaeda had this weird habit of tearing his bread into bite-sized pieces and dabbing at his mouth with a napkin.

“Ah, thank you for the meal!!”

“It’s just milk and bread,” Hinata muttered, chin digging into his palm and elbow digging into his lap. “That’s not really a meal.”

“Still,” Komaeda huffed, almost like he was offended. Offended, on everyone else’s behalf. “It’s more than I deserve!”

_You really sound so sure about that..._

Hinata rolled his eyes, humming noncommittedly.

And then, Komaeda spoke up again.

“Ah, Hinata-kun...?”

He perked up, and just like that, Komaeda flashed that dazzling smile of his.

“You really are so kind! So amazing! You really are someone special! Someone _wonderful_!”

His heart skipped a beat.

_~~And it was just like that.~~ _

“...J-Just finish eating. And drinking. You can...stretch your legs a bit... But if you seriously leave this room... I’ll be pissed.”

“Yes!” Komaeda nodded happily. “I won’t let you down, Hinata-kun!”

_~~Do you understand?~~ _

“Mmgh...”

_~~Do you get it?~~ _

Hinata stood up, and dusted himself off.

“Goodbye, Komaeda.”

“Bye-bye, Hinata-kun!”

_~~How many times do I have to show you before you understand?~~ _

* * *

**~~(30 in-game minutes and 55 in-game seconds remaining in this session.)~~ **

_~~So we’re at the end of another session already.~~ _

And they’re on this beach where they met, and Komaeda is talking as he always does. Komaeda is fidgeting with his fingers, looking tense and unsure.

“Good luck, or bad luck...” Komaeda mumbled, looking frustrated. “Which is it, Hinata-kun?”

“Bad luck, right?”

“Right!” Komaeda exclaimed immediately, like he was expecting this answer just as much as Hinata had been. But that was impossible, wasn’t it? “It’s such bad luck! I didn’t even get to die or anything!”

**~~(As if you would have allowed even an attempt.)~~ **

“All this time, I...”

**~~(What are you hoping for, this time?)~~ **

“But now, it’s different...”

**~~(Ah, but the answer is obvious.)~~ **

“The time we spent together...”

**~~(What you want...)~~ **

“That’s why... I want to say...”

**~~(...is for Nagito to finally say...)~~ **

“Hinata-kun...”

**(“I love you.”)**

“We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Ah. Hinata stiffened for a moment, he stilled, and he’s sure...everything else stilled, too.

**_~~(Until the moment Nagito says those words, will you remain unsatisfied with how things are?)~~ _ **

_~~That’s not true. I’m selfish enough to want more than just that.~~ _

“Of course we are,” he said. He takes Komaeda’s hand, squeezed, and he takes in that dazzling smile on Komaeda’s face. Hinata smiled back broadly.

And just like that, the system was prepped for a restart.

* * *

_Just hearing the words isn’t going to be enough. I want to hear them, but...more than anything, I want his eyes to open and for him to say them to me in the despairing world outside of this carefree island._

**_Of course you do._ **

_I can’t just hear them. I need... I need to see him._

**_Of course._ **

_I have to do this, over and over, until he wakes up. I have to do this...for him..._

**_Just for him? Because he’s the first person who looked at you with twinkling eyes?_ **

_He’s the only one who’d put me through this much trouble; who’d make this much of a hassle._

**_Love is such a despairing thing, isn’t it?_ **

_It is. Oh,_ God _... It..._

Hinata could have laughed until he cried, even as the other remained unmoved.

_It really, really is._

* * *

“Hey, can you hear me?”

Sounds of the waves and the crying seagulls. Blinding sunlight.

“Ah, I understand... It’s overwhelming, isn’t it?”

This person is glowing and dazzling under the sun, and they are also washed-out and pallid.

“I should introduce myself.” He holds out his hand, and that striking smile almost overwhelms his fragile face. “And you are?”

“...I’m...” ~~~~

Before he can even finish, he takes that frail hand and squeezed it painfully tight.


End file.
